Note: This story was updated with comment from State Rep. Aaron Miller and the Michigan Nurses Association.

STURGIS, MI -- A nonprofit hospital in Southwest Michigan is cutting 60 full-time jobs and closing several departments in response to financial difficulties.

According to a Thursday, Nov. 29 release, Sturgis Hospital has struggled with significant financial challenges over the last 18 months. Reimbursements from Medicare, Medicaid and other insurers have not kept pace with an increase in costs and decrease in patients at the hospital, the release states.

To address this, Sturgis Hospital is transitioning to an outpatient-based health system. A reduction in inpatient services will cause approximately 60 full-time positions to end.

President and CEO Robert LaBarge was not made available for comment. In the release, he said the hospital has worked hard in the last year to "weather the changing landscape of health care," but it's time for change.

Layoffs are inevitable when inpatient services are also reduced, LaBarge said.

"Health care is continually changing," LaBarge said. "The old ways don't work for a small hospital any longer, so we have to embrace new ways of doing things. It's time to restructure our operations in a way that is consistent with what we believe the future of health care will be for rural communities."

The announcement attracted negative backlash hours after being released Thursday.

A statement released by the Michigan Nurses Association criticized hospital administrators for a lack of transparency. Nurses are seeking a closer look at how the hospital's financial condition and why alternatives to "drastic cuts."

"It's no exaggeration to say that people's lives are at stake with these cuts that will remove essential services from our community," said Kelli Glick, an oncology clinic RN and president of the Sturgis Hospital Registered Nurse Council.

Republican State Rep. Aaron Miller said the announcement amounts to "the effective implosion" of Sturgis Hospital. He demanded the immediate resignation of LaBarge and other senior leadership for not disclosing the decision sooner.

"Considering the announcement, I pause and reflect on two things," Miller said in a release Thursday. "First, it's that things have been sliding down hill financially for the hospital for some time and the gravity of the slide has frankly been cloaked in secrecy by our hospital upper leadership. As much as I understand the many reasons for the slide, it has not been communicated well to the public whatsoever. Second, I, like many others in our beloved community of Sturgis, have perhaps given the board and the CEO too much benefit of a doubt. Shame on me for doing so and staying quiet for so long, primarily given today's terrible and unexplainable actions."

Miller was raised in Sturgis and represents St. Joseph and Cass Counties. He said the reorganization will have a "devastating" impact on the local community.

The hospital will close non-profitable departments that include its wound clinic, home health, pain clinic and an urgent care center in Constantine. It will also close the oncology treatment center and hospice and obstetric services.

Inpatient medical and surgical services will be reduced, though four staffed inpatient beds will remain.

The reorganization plan will begin on Dec. 3. The actual number of persons laid-off may be smaller as affected associates assume necessary, yet vacant, positions within the Hospital, according to the release.

Miller criticized the lack of notice. He considered whether hospitals should be subject to the Open Meetings Act to increase transparency.

"The fact that one miserable week has been given for most of the changes is a complete utter failure and a rejection of common courtesy in the name of internal hiding," he said.

Though he has no authority over the hospital, Miller called on the hospital's board of directors to remove LaBarge or step down themselves, if unwilling.

"If these things do not happen, I'm convinced that the community will demand them and take it upon themselves to see that they are accomplished," he said. "I will be found at their front, whatever the cost."

The hospital's board believes the plan to focus on outpatient services is more sustainable, according to the release. LaBarge said outpatient services make up 80-85 percent of the care provided.

"Our goal is to keep the most in-demand services available locally and partner with other health systems to supply inpatient and specialty medical services," he said. "In order to transition our focus to outpatient services, we must first get our organization in a sustainable financial position, and then pursue strategies to keep the most important services available in our community."

Outpatient Services that will remain available at the onset of the new plan include: